Fireworks in the rain?
by PianoPanda12
Summary: Travis and Katie have been together for a while now at Camp Half Blood, and the Fireworks quickly approach. Travis finally knacks some courage to asks Katie to do something with him, but it turns out... well... not the way Katie expected. Oneshot. FLUFFY LIKE AN UNSHAVED SHEEP. This is my first story, please no flames!


Katie's POV

What could I say? I mean... it seemed like a normal day. For the most part, at least.

Let's start at breakfast, shall we? I was sitting with Miranda and we were both eating cereal, discussing the best battle strategies involving vines when I feel a tap on my right shoulder. So naturally, I turn to my left. I've been trained, don't question it. I find a smiling someone named Travis Stoll grinning at me with his little smirk that doesn't go away, so it's impossible to tell whether or not I should take it as a premonition or treat him like a normal idiot.

"Hey, you!" He said to me, goofily grinning as he sat down from the other side of the bench. I turned to face him and give him a death glare. He knew we weren't supposed to sit together during meals. I made a note to self to rant to him later on.

"Hey yourself, Stoll," I reply as he chuckled, rolling his blue eyes at me. Dang, sometimes I wished they weren't so freaking pretty. In order to distract myself, I landed a peck on his cheek.

As soon as I kissed him, he blushed. I started laughing like a total complete dumbo.

"Kaaaaatieeeee," he whined, making his little pouty face at me. "That's not niiiice." How old was he, three? No, eighteen. Sheesh, that boy needed to grow up.

"Oh shut up, Travis," I sighed, rolling my eyes back at him. "So why are you over here anyways?"

He paused, eyes diverting to the left corner of his eye. He was hiding something from me. It was then I noticed his left hand was behind his back. "Uh... umm..." he stuttered. "Well, uh, so um... Katie... will you... go... to..." He sighed then rubbed his temples, shortly after maintaining his composure. Well, sort of. He muttered something along the lines of "wull yew goo tuh de fairy quirks wid me?"

I was... a bit... well... confused. Like, what. Did. He. Just. Freaking. Say. So I asked him again, and he took a deep breath and just flat out asked me, pulling out the item behind his back.

"Katie Gardner," he began. "Will you go to the fireworks with me?"

He tentatively held out the bundle of white, downy dandelions out to me, most of the seeds blown away.

I laughed my head off, and he flushed. I quickly composed myself and placed my hand over my collarbone, feigning surprise and 1910 astonishment.

"Why, Mr. Stoll, I thought you'd never ask!" I replied, beaming at him.

Yet again, he rolled his eyes at me and I took the "bouquet." He opened his arms for a hug, and I, being the kind girlfriend, obliged. We pulled apart too soon, but he needed to get back to his table before Chiron noticed his absence over at the Hermes kids.

"And by the way, Travis," I said, back to modern day attitude. "Those are weeds. Nearly dead, too." I winked at him and shooed him off back to the Hermes table while his cheeks turned a bit pink and he called behind him "well I thought they were fluffy and cuddly like you!"

Dandelions. Fluffy. Cuddly. The thought wasn't working out in my head. Ah, well. Travis was Travis. I faced back to Miranda and nibbled on my cheerios, and okay I'll admit it. I was lovestruck. Again. By Travis. Again. I hated the way he just had that effect on me... Then again, I could've sworn I had it on him too.

I plucked at the dandelions in my hands, blowing each seed away into the grass. I silently prayed to my mother that they wouldn't blow over to the gardens of the strawberry fields. Gods, that would be a disaster.

* * *

I have to admit, I was a bit more than worried based on how Travis was acting... His eyes kept darting to the left whenever we talked and he'd dodge my kisses and say "later." Something was up, and I couldn't figure out what. It'd been a few days since he asked me, so there shouldn't have been anything too nerve racking. The fireworks were actually tomorrow night; I figured he'd be in good shape.

So I went to talk to Annabeth. She and I were pretty close, but I expected her to be with Percy... Eh whatever. On instinct, I walked over to cabin 3 where Percy would probably be doing something weird.

Knocking obnoxiously loud, I screamed "Percy OPEN UP!"

I jumped backwards and nearly fell flat on my butt. He was at the door in a second in his normal camp clothes holding riptide. No, not little cute gold pen riptide. Like, BIG HUGE SHARP CELESTIC BRONZE riptide. So naturally, I was a bit... Well... Startled.

Quickly, capped his sword, the turning back into a pen and apologized quietly. "Gods Katie, I thought there was another war started."

I only rolled my eyes at him, giving him a sisterly punch on the shoulder.

"No you weirdo," I replied. "I was just wondering if Annabeth was around."

"Around here?" He asked, tossing his head over both shoulders. "Um, no, she's not. She could be anywhere... Did you check her cabin?"

"No, I didn't..." He laughed, giving me the look that said: then why are you here?

"But," I continued, cutting off his moment of joy. "I assumed she'd be here with you."

He turned red. Percy doesn't do that. But he turned red.

"Shut up, Katie..." he muttered, shooing me out of the room. "Go find that wise girl for me, would you? I need to talk to her."

As I walked away, I chuckled and called over my shoulder, "Sure, loverboy."

I trotted over to the Athena Cabin. Cabin six had an owl over the top, and what other on the roof than a book. Like. A big huge textbook magically staying on the roof, pages flipping back and for every so often. I went to the side of the cabin and climbed up the ladder, plopping down next to the book.

"Hey Annabeth!" I said, good naturedly.

The book jumped. It slammed shut as I heard an exasperated sigh. A hand suddenly appeared along with an entire body of my blonde-haired gray-eyed best friend, ripping her blue Yankees cap off her head.

"Gods, Katie!" She sighed. "You scared me half to Hades!" Then she cursed at me in Greek. Thanks, man.

"I was making plenty noise, Annabeth. A daughter of Demeter climbing up a ladder isn't exactly quiet." She glared daggers at me and I shut up.

She stretched out her legs, massaging her temples gently before looking back at me. "So what is it you want from me, Katie?"

"Well," I began, making a gesture of it with my hands. She knew that this was going to be a long story. "Some child by the name of Travis Stoll–" she groaned. I smiled. "–Decided to ask me to the fireworks. But he's been wearing this funny look all week, and I can't tell if it's just idiotic or the I'm-plotting-something-and-I'm-not-telling-you."

Annabeth gave a hearty laugh at my face, a bit contorted at mimicking my Hermes boyfriend. "Look," she said, still laughing. "This could be potentially concerning. I'm thinking not nearly as bad as the chocolate bunny incident last Easter, but... just be prepared, okay Katie-Kat?"

She smirked at my nickname as I glared at her. "I'll ignore that Annie."

She stopped laughing and gave me the "I'll kill you" look.

"Love you too, Annie!" I gave her a quick hug and started down the ladder.

"You know," Annabeth said before she put her cap back on. "Stoll is rubbing off on you."

I stuck my tongue out at her, continuing my journey down the ladder.

Halfway down, I remembered that Percy wanted to see her. So once again, I turned around and called to her. "ANNABETH!" I yelled. The book jostled again. "PERCY WANTS TO SEE YOU, GO FIND HIM!"

The fact that I always have to call back to someone after I leave really speaks on behalf of my forgetfulness, doesn't it?

It was free hour now, so I didn't have to do anything in particular. I skipped back to my cabin only to find something that was... interesting. And different. In the most disastrous way possible.

There was a lot of pink. Like. BRIGHT. HOT. Pink. The windows had bright pink artificial flowers weaved in the frame and the plants we had were decked out with bright pink spray paint. Our ivy grown on the ground surrounding the cabin was all pink, and little flowers, also pink, were planted around and in between them in some kind of pattern. Someone had tampered with our plants! And the roof. OH MY GODS. The roof. There was a bright pink blanket thing on our beautiful grassy green roof. It looked like Aphrodite had taken her paint bucket and dumped it all over our cabin. Miranda was standing at the door, mouth open wide, unreal tears falling out of her eyes. I looked around for signs of anyone who could've done such a thing, though I already knew who had. From the corner of my eye, the Aphrodite girls were starting to scream at the fact that their rain cover was gone. Huh. So that's what it was. A rain cover for a place that doesn't rain. I smirked at the thought of the prissy girls freaking out at "oh Gods forbid: sunlight" seeping through their pink wooden roof. Our grassy straw roof wasn't rain proof either, but Camp doesn't rain. Big whoop, aphs. Admiring my short-lived victory, I couldn't help but laugh at their expressions, while fury bubbled up within myself. There was only one person in the world who would have thought of doing this. Travis Stoll, watch your back.

* * *

I bursted in through the door. "STOLL!" I yelled, sending all of the Hermes kids scurrying behind their bunks.

Two shaking figures emerged. "Here," said shakily, the two brothers nearing me.

One whispered to the other, "I think she's here for you, bro."

The other said back, "Um, no. I'm not gonna go out to that death trap."

I rolled my eyes. "I'M RIGHT HERE YOU IDIOTS!" Grabbing the taller one, I yanked his arm out of the cabin. Travis Stoll was standing before me, and was that fear I saw in his eyes?

He smiled slightly, slouching like something bad was in store. His thumbs were shoved into his pockets, other fingers twitching slightly. I internally fist bumped myself. He was nervous. "Hey, Katie," he said, grinning sheepishly.

I slapped him. NO, not in the cheek. That's so stupid. No. I slapped him hardcore. Across the head. Oh yeah. Wait, whoa, why on earth was his hair so soft?

I shook my head, clearing the distraction. "Travis," I began sweetly, allowing venom to seep into my glaring green eyes. "Why is my cabin all pink?"

"Well," he started, flushing. "Happy prank day?"

I slapped him. On the hair. Again. "Travis!"

"What?" he replied, expression as if he wasn't guilty. "Okay," he relented. I sighed in content. "I'm very very sorry, Katie. But I promise it was all for good reason."

I rolled my eyes at his puppy dog face. "Okay, Travis, it's okay. It'd better be a good one, though. Vandalizing our cabin without a good outcome comes at a price," I said, willing vines to grow up toward my arms as I played with the leaves.

I wished immediately I hadn't said that. He gave me that mischief filled look that told me something was up. "Oh," he said. "It definitely is. Challenge accepted. You just wait and see, Gardner."

Before I could say anything else, he softly kissed me on the forehead and walked away. I was a bit startled, to be honest. I wasn't sure if I should have been excited about him being all secretive. But, I knew it would be good. Travis knew that I'd kill him if he did anything (hence the vines). So I grinned, just thinking how much this boy loved me.

* * *

It was the evening of the fireworks. The clouds were out and gray, but Chiron said the magical boundaries would prevent the rain from coming down.

I smirked at myself in the mirror; the Aphrodite cabin was given the honor to decide fashion matters for each girl. I was in a pretty green shirt with tank straps that was cut under my chest and skirted out at the bottom with white jean shorts that went to just above my knees. With what other shoes than flats, the most immobile shoes possible aside from heels. I guess this was one way at getting back at me for stealing their "rain cover." I dug out an old emerald pendant my mom gave me when I first joined camp, quickly did my side braid, and slipped out the door.

Travis met me where we usually met; by the entrance to the strawberry fields. I took in a breath when I saw him. His hair was all shiny and curly like usual; I guess it was his outfit that made it look so different. He was in a white v-neck t-shirt that read "HE DID IT" in black, bold letters. He had dark, muddy-green cargo shorts on with his usual pair of sneakers. Come to think of it, he didn't look different at all. I guess it was just the fact that it was our first fireworks together.

Nervously, I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Hi," I said quietly, gaze lingering on the ground.

He looked down at me, twiddling a flower in his hands. "Hey, Katie-Kat. You look beautiful," he told me, lifting my chin so that he could look me in the eye. Carefully, he raised the flower up to my head and pinned it in behind my ear.

I blushed, feeling the soft petals against my temple. "Thank you," I whispered.

He took my hand and wrapped me up in a hug, kissing my hair all the while. He smirked out of nowhere.

"What?" I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

He chuckled again. "Look Katie, we opposite match," he said, gesturing to my shorts and his shirt and my shirt and his shorts. Well, I guess color wise, we did "match."

I laughed nervously, adjusting the flower behind my ear.

"Katie, relax," he said. "It's just fireworks. Just you and me, ok? No rest of the camp. No Drew coming to ruin this. And if she does, let's just say I've got some Aphrodite pranks up my sleeve..."

I had to laugh at that. "I love you," I muttered into his chest.

He scoffed jokingly, replying, "Well, how could you not?"

I punched him lightly in the chest, wearing a look of disbelief in my eyes.

His cocky gaze softened and he kissed my knuckles one by one. "I can't say I'm just kidding–" I glared at him. He smirked. "–But I can say I love you too, Katie."

We just stood there, arms around one another, before he pulled away and picked up his belongings on the ground, unnoticed by me. There was a towel blanket for the two of us as well as... a camera? Maybe... there was something different about it though. I couldn't tell exactly what it was. Well duh, I could see it was shinier, but I wondered why. I prayed silently that Aphrodite didn't make him a sparkle boy.

Hand in hand, the two of us walked over to the field where he, very gentleman-like, laid out the blanket but still sat down before me. I glared at him as he extended his hand and yanked me down. His smirk was starting to get to me... "Travis," I began. He acknowledged me, nodding at me to continue. "Why are you–"

Before I could finish my sentence, his smirk became a huge grin. I opened my mouth to question him, but then felt something on my lips. A drop of water. I looked up and was deliberately greeted with a drop between my eyes. I guess he couldn't hold it anymore, because Travis was rolling on the grass, laughing his butt off. His arms were in the air and he was yelling "VICTORY" as loud as he could as to let the whole four boroughs of New York know.

Out of nowhere, he stopped and jumped up, side facing me. I waited for an explanation. It came eventually. "Look," he started, looking at me through the corner of his eye. "Chiron said that this year we were still going to hold the fireworks. But at a different time. You see, he knew that it was going to rain. And since we watch the works from here over Manhattan, it's raining over there." He waited for me to respond.

The gears in my head clicked together. "So, there are no fireworks today, are there?"

He shook his head, but still smiled like his usual idiot self.

"Why are you still smiling?" Not that I minded the fireworks being rescheduled, but what was so exciting about rain?

"Chiron also said that since it's raining in Manhattan and we can't have fireworks, we'll have it rain here too. He took down the weather wall. So, we'll have rain all night."

Then, realization dawned on me as the rain poured on. Pit-pat, pit-pat. All around the camp and onto the– "NO!" I shrieked, yanking my flats off and running as fast as I could up the hill toward my cabin.

For some strange reason, Travis kept laughing though he stayed at my heels. But I was too busy to whack him for good measure. When we arrived, I gaped at my still pink cabin. But, the pinkness wasn't the part that shocked me the most. The rain hit the pink cover on the roof, rolling down and into the ground harmlessly, not a drop spilling through. I was silently thankful for my cabin mates' and my laziness as to not have taken it off. On the side, I sort of noticed the Aphrodite cabin freaking out at their cabin roof getting wet. No, not the cabin interior. The roof. The pink wooden roof. No harm done.

And the flowers that I thought were artificial, spray-painty, and pink were now nice and blue like they had been before. The pink spray paint began to drip off and I watched in awe as it began to reveal bunches of forget-me-nots beautifully propped up against our windows. At last, my gaze trickled to the ground. The ivy that was originally a deep, milkweed green was back to its original color, and oh. The flowers woven in the rows were letters of the alphabet, the letters spelling out the eight-lettered phrase that Travis and I had repeated to each other before. In and out of the ivy, the little blue forget-me-nots read: "I LOVE YOU". I fought back the tears that urged to fall out of my eyes. My hand flew to my mouth, trying to cover up my awe.

Finally, I turned to the boy beside me that had done all of this. He smiled at me, taking his camera out and capturing my expression. Now I noticed what was different about it: it was coated in a plastic cover, so naturally it looked glossier and sparkly. It was waterproof. Travis had planned this out all along.

I didn't know how to begin my speech; the words of thanks and appreciation in my head became a jumbled blah when they reached my mouth. "Thank you so much, Travis," I said as I allowed tears to free flow from my eyes. I wrapped my arms around him, only noticing now that we were both drenched from standing outside in the rain.

He was a bit startled by my sudden outburst, but hugged me back, whispering "you're welcome" in my ear, kissing me lightly.

I pulled back, looking at his handsome face straight on. "You knew all along, didn't you?" He nodded, fervently, smiling at me all the while. "Travis, I can't tell you how much I love this and how much I love you."

"Well," he said cheekily. "You just did."

Then, he did exactly what I should've expected yet seen coming. He flicked his hair at me, drenched with rain. Though already wet, the load of water shot me in the face. Turning toward him slowly, I revealed my death glare.

He made a run for it. Forgetting my shoes, I dropped them and sprinted after him, back down the hill and around the field.

"TRAVIS STOLL! I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, laughing my head off as I chased him around in the rain, my toes getting more and more numb every second.

"Really, Katie?" he called back. "After telling me you love me?" He ran with his arms out to the side, hair flying wildly about, sneakers sloshing in the mud.

The two of us danced around and ran around in the rain for a while, and the whole time I hadn't tried to catch up to him. But when he slowed down, I ran faster, and as soon as I nearly caught up to him, he stopped in front of me and turned to face me. Unprepared, I shrieked as I ran into him. He staggered backward, not releasing me from his grasp. He smiled at me, mischievous glint still in his eye.

"Travis Stoll," I began. "If you are planning to do something right now, you'd better tell me before I–"

And I was cut off as he placed his lips over mine. We stood there for some time, just enjoying each others company, my hands in his hair as his hands resting on my cheeks. We pulled apart a bit too soon, but Travis smiled at me, making my stomach turn around. We returned to his towel blanket (by some miracle waterproof) and he turned it upside-down so that we could sit down on the dry side. He pulled me into his lap and I rested my head on his shoulder, arms wrapped around his torso. He absently kissed my hair as I just held onto him, listening to the thumps of his heart that beat for me.

And we just sat there, in the rain, both soaking wet with occasional impulses to kill one another.

"I love you," he whispered.

"You already said that," I playfully whined, feigning annoyance. "It's my turn."

He raised his eyebrows at me and said, "Well alright then, Katie-Kat, go ahead."

I sat up and looked into his beautiful blue eyes and told him: "I love you, Travis."

He kissed my forehead and pulled me back into his arms. "Love you too, Katie."

* * *

So... What'd you guys think? This is my first story, I'd appreciate it if there were no flames and whatnot of the sort. Review? If you want to...? Thanks for reading!

~Pianopanda12


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